HK Protest Documentary Wins Golden Horse

A still from Chow's Revolution of Our Times documentary

Tonight the Golden Horse Awards, the Chinese-speaking world's equivalent of the Oscars was held tonight and the Hong Kong documentary on the 2019 protests was named Best Documentary.

When the film Revolution of Our Times was announced as the winner, it prompted a long round of applause and shouts of support for Hong Kong from the audience in Taipei.

Director Kiwi Chow sent a pre-recorded message from Hong Kong. He expressed thanks for the award, dedicated the film to Hong Kong people, saying he hoped it would bring them some comfort.

Chow speaking via a recorded message in HK

"I cried a lot when I produced this film; several times I comforted myself with this film, to express my anger, hatred, to face my fear and trauma," he said, his voice cracking with emotion.

The 152-minute documentary follows several protesters and documents their clashes with police in the 2019 anti-government protests. 

Revolution of Our Times was a last-minute addition to the Cannes Film Festival lineup in July, but it will never be shown in Hong Kong because of the national security law which prohibits any hint of secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces.

As a result those in the arts and culture fields are worried about work being misconstrued as contravening the national security law. Most recently the opening of M+ contemporary art museum resulted in photographs by dissident artist Ai Weiwei not being displayed even though they are part of a collection donated by well-known Swiss collector Uli Sigg.

This big win for the documentary comes days after the second anniversary of the District Council elections where 71 percent of registered voters turned the city's electoral map yellow except for one district. It was an unprecedented win for the pro-democrats, but the victory was short lived, again because of the national security law.

A poster of the documentary

Since then the city's institutions are being dismantled from the district councillors themselves to grassroots organisations and unions, as well as a pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily.

Chow's film is a reminder of what happened and to never forget.

Remembering Those who Defended HK

Japanese troops take over Tsim Sha Tsui

Every year around this time when I wear a poppy, some Hongkongers ask me where I got the pretty flower, others suddenly remember that it's that day where you remember the war dead, other expats don't seem to care or notice. 

I wear it to remember the Canadian soldiers who died for us, and in particular, think of those who tried to defend Hong Kong from the Japanese during the Battle of Hong Kong from December 8-25, 1941. This year is the 80th anniversary, but there is nothing in the news to remind people.

Some locals remember having to wear poppies at school, but students today don't wear them.

Sai Wan War Cemetery above Chai Wan

Is this part of the government's efforts to quietly forget what happened 80 years ago? Is it because it was an embarrassing defeat? Soldiers from Britain, Canada and India rushed over to try to defend the then British colony, but were not well prepared, didn't have much knowledge of the terrain and were overpowered, leading to the surrender on Christmas Day, 1941.

Over 1,500 Indian and Canadian soldiers died in battle.

Then the rest were taken in as prisoners of war in camps in Hong Kong and Japan until the Japanese surrendered in 1945.

Attending the Remembrance Day ceremony at Sai Wan Military Cemetery in 2018 was a moving experience, seeing over 1,500 graves, many of them Canadian soldiers who died in a place they were not familiar with.

What happened 80 years ago is a part of Hong Kong's history whether Beijing accepts it or not. It must be remembered by generations to come. 

Meanwhile fast-forward eight decades later where the freedoms these soldiers defended have now given way to the national security law.

Statue of Canadian soldier in HK Park

Today a second person was handed a lengthy sentence, not for committing murder or causing injury to someone or destroying property. It was for chanting pro-independence slogans during the anti-government protests, violating the national security law on the grounds of inciting secession.

Former delivery food worker Adam Ma Chun-man, 31, was accused of promoting separatism on 20 occasions between August 15 and November 22 last year, using expressions such as "Hong Kong independence, the way out", "Hongkongers, build our country", and "Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times",  a signature rallying call of the anti-government protests two years ago.

Judge Stanley Chan Kwong-chi said he found the national security law violation serious enough to warrant at least five years behind bars, as the defendant repeatedly incited others to separate Hong Kong from China, and failed to display even "the least bit of remorse" -- something Ma himself acknowledged.

Originally the sentence was set for six years, but Chan knocked off three months, saying Ma saved the court's time by agreeing to most of the prosecution's case.

However when the sentence was read out, people in the gallery shouted the sentence was "too long", and "insane".

While the defence counsel asked for a more lenient sentence, Chan refused, saying Ma's actions could have provoked others to resort to radical ways.

"Who knows? Maybe some of those incited would become another Adam Ma," said Chan.

Ma sentenced to almost six years in jail today

In a letter to the court, Ma wrote he was inspired by jailed activist Edward Leung Tin-kei, and felt he bore a responsibility to achieve the latter's aspirations for independence.

"Today is the 311th day I have been in jail," he wrote in his letter, dated September 28, the first day of the trial. "I have denied the allegation, but my mind is exceptionally calm, even with a bit of joy.

"Your Lordship, I do not feel any shame, nor do I have the least bit of remorse for what I have done in the past. I also promise that I will not display the slightest bit of weakness in the fight for democracy and justice," he added.

Amnesty International deputy secretary general Kyle Ward called Thursday's ruling "outrageous", and urged the Hong Kong government to stop criminalising "mere acts of expression".

"This conviction and sentencing clearly shows that restrictions on the right to freedom of expression in Hong Kong are dangerously disproportionate," he said.

While the outside world may be outraged, this is only the beginning. There are some defendants who are determined to stick by their beliefs to the end, even if the courts do not agree with them.

And they will pay dearly as we have seen today.

For them this is their sacrifice...

Hong Kong's Second Silver, and a 9-Year Sentence

Haughey with her second silver medal in the 100m free final

 

This morning Hongkongers were on a high as they watched swimmer Siobhan Haughey win a silver medal in the women's 100m freestyle. The 23-year-old clinched double silver in the span of a few days, Hong Kong's third medal of the Tokyo 2020 Games. 

But by the afternoon the mood became sombre with the news that Leon Tong Ying-kit, 24, the first person to be convicted of terrorism and secession under the national security law, was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Haughey set a new Asian record at 52.27 seconds

The government-appointed panel of judges sentenced the former restaurant worker to 6.5 years for the secession crime, and eight years for terrorism, with 5.5 years of the latter term to run concurrently with the first. He was also barred from driving for 10 years.

"The defendant was not a lone protester quietly carrying a flag bearing the slogan amongst a sea of protesters," read the 15-page judgment delivered at the Court of First Instance. "He deliberately challenged a number of police check lines in order to attract as much attention to the secessionist message on the flag as possible and to leave a great impact and a strong impression on people."

There was a flag mounted on the back of Tong's motorcycle with the slogan, "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times".

The panel believed Tong acted alone and did not have a specific plan to separate Hong Kong from the mainland.

Tong riding his motorcycle on July 1, 2020

However the judges believed the defendant committed a terrorist act when he ran into three police officers -- a symbol of law and order -- and intimidating members of the public, especially those with opposing views, by that action.

"What the defendant did was calculated and deliberate acts which created a very dangerous situation for the road users and which indeed caused injuries to three police officers," the judgment read. But they agreed the injuries suffered by the officers were not "serious" as alleged by the prosecution, and so the starting point for sentencing for the charge should be between three and 10 years in jail. The maximum penalty for terrorism under the national security law is life imprisonment.

Thomas Kellogg is the executive director of the Georgetown Centre for Asian Law and describes the sentence as "harsh".

"People can only shape their behaviour after the initial lines of what the national security law covers have been drawn," he said, adding it did not bode well for the 47 opposition activists who were earlier charged with subversion for their part in the unofficial primary election last year. 

Tong has been sentenced to nine years in prison

Kellogg also said it was unfortunate that judges had ruled that the acts to incite secession were of a "serious nature". "If Tong's act of carrying the banner is serious, what acts... are not serious? I worry that the court has essentially expanded the serious nature provision to cover almost all acts of inciting secession," he said.  

Meanwhile Nathan Law Kwun-chung, who is now based in the UK, said the sentence was "outrageous", and raised concerns about free speech.

"The sentencing guideline is unclear, and it gives the judge the power to determine whether a slogan can be seen as 'capable of' inciting secession. This is an extremely low threshold to lock an individual in jail for years," he said.

Today was literally a high and a low...

First Case Convicted under National Security Law

Tong on his motorcycle with the slogan on the flag

 

As Edgar Cheung Ka-long, the 24-year-old is walking on air relishing his gold medal performance yesterday in the Tokyo 2020 Games, another 24-year-old is contemplating the possibility of life in prison.

Three judges appointed by the Hong Kong Chief Executive found Leon Tong Ying-kit guilty of inciting separatism by displaying a flag on his motorcycle that said: "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" as he rode up and down the streets during a July 1 rally last year in Wan Chai.

Tong crashed into three police officers July 1

The judges also ruled the former waiter caused great harm to society by inflicting grave injuries on three police officers who tried to block him after he ignored repeated warnings to stop.

Justice Esther Toh Lye-ping said they were satisfied the slogan was capable of inciting others to commit secession.

"When the defendant displayed the slogan in the manner he did, he intended to communicate the secessionist meaning of the slogan to others and he intended to incite others to commit secession by separating the [Hong Kong Special Administrative Region] from the [People's Republic of China]," Toh said.

The three judges also found Tong's failure to stop at the police check lines, eventually crashing into three officers, was "a deliberate challenge mounted against the police, a symbol of Hong Kong's law and order".

The defence had countered the collision was accidental, and that the slogan was ambiguous, and did not necessarily carry a political message.

Defence council Grossman said it was an accident

However the judges only needed to find the slogan was capable of inciting secession and not definitively without a reasonable doubt to convict Tong.

On Thursday the court will hear mitigation, during which defence council Clive Grossman, SC, will present "quite a lot of letters from people" who will plead leniency on his client's behalf.

Nevertheless, as this is the first test case of the national security law, the prosecution will be looking for a heavy sentence to set a precedent and warning to all.

No doubt this conviction will accelerate people's desire to leave Hong Kong, though Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor claims not to care...